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Small gardens are now the in-thing to use in marketing and sales ads for tiny homes and small living spaces .

With people feeling like they paid too much for their homes, having a small piece of garden is an oasis in a sea of concrete and stucco. We were walking along South and 2nd Streets the other night and noticed all the Real Estate images that contained gardens and patios in their sales pictures in the show room windows.

Back yard Berks Sales Feature

Rock garden in yard as selling feature

Roof deck with trees in background

The city of Philadelphia calls for open space to be a part of any building project. In the Philadelphia Zoning there is a RSA-5 requirement of 9 ft per Zoning Code Table 14-701-1 which reduces to 5 ft per note 7 for lots of 45 ft or less in depth. Note 7 says: In the RSA-5 district, the minimum rear yard depth for lots less than 45 ft. in depth shall be 5 ft. for the first 12 ft. of building height. Portions of buildings above 12 ft. shall comply with the minimum rear yard depth as set forth in Table 14-701-1.

Also in the International Building Codes (IBC.2009) accepted by the State of PA and City of Philadelphia, Section 1206 Yard or Courts: 1206.2 Yards shall not be less than 3 ft in width for building two stories or less. Increase 1 ft for each additional story.

Yards help allow light and air to flow in to our homes and the building code was written with that in mind.

private gardens sell

brick garden and light sell

trees and light sell in the city

Roof decks across South Philly to escape the confines of small space living.

Easy to hate, but very easy to Love.

The Ailanthus is a rough tree to kill and is probably why it is considered a weed. They spread fast. However, back in the day they were considered ornamental trees. But things change. In New York, this type of tree had for decades been the centerpiece of the sculpture garden at the Noguchi Museum in Queens. From the article “A Tree That Survived a Sculptor’s Chisel Is Chopped Down” by GLENN COLLINS,MARCH 27, 2008 in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/nyregion/27tree.html)

“It was a survivor, always there,” Ms. Rychlak said of the junkyard dog of a tree. The ailanthus, an invasive species brought to the United States from China, is currently designated a “noxious weed” by the United States Department of Agriculture. Given its offensive odor, it has won such epithets as “stink tree” and “ghetto palm,” thriving despite neglect, water deprivation and even physical abuse.

But the Chinese call it Tree of Heaven, and have long found its leaves, bark and wood useful in traditional medicine. And this ailanthus was spared by Noguchi when, in 1975…

“Ailanthus is about survival, and grows where no other tree dares grow, even in polluted soil,” said Mitch Cope, an artist with the collective. He added that the tree “is easy to hate, and just as easy to fall in love with.”

I would have to agree with Mitch Cope’s quote, it is easy to hate but it is very easy to fall in love with.

easy to love tree

As many commentators have said, the tree is a tough one to kill and you have to dig deep into the ground to get the roots. It is not a little expense to do so especially in such a confined space. So we say, let it live until it has lived out its life and then we will do it soundly; much like they did at the Noguchi Museum in Queens. However, we will have to take it to below ground, because the developers would just chop it again. Plus add to that, the cost of repairing the brick wall and patio work that would have to be done. This endeavor should not be done just for the sake of doing so. We hope the developer realizes the costs to do this and the choice they make on their own.

The tree’s annual rings revealed its age to be 75. But even as a stump, the Noguchi tree may have the final say. “The ailanthus is well known for regenerating from its roots,” Ms. Dixon said. “If it revives, the original could be here again, as a symbol for the museum.”

While in the garden today, there was lots of Bee action. Today, I mainly saw Bumble Bees and a flew wasps/yellow jackets. I wish I saw some honey bees.

bumble bee checking it out

bumble bee pollinating

bumble bee all in pollinating

Here is a video:

I remember seeing this youtube video below on facebook awhile ago. Wouldn’t it be cool to set up a bee hive in Philly. I bet the veggies would love it. I wonder if it really works and if I could set one up in the City of Philadelphia?

With all this muckety muck going on about zoning and use permits and such, we did some research on vacant lots, licenses and gardens and we found this, under Philadelphia Code, Title 9, CHAPTER 9-3900. PROPERTY LICENSES AND OWNER ACCOUNTABILITY:

§ 9-3904. Vacant Lot License.
(1) Required.
(a) The owner of any lot on which no structure is built and no productive activity has been conducted with the owner’s permission for at least the past three (3) months shall obtain a Vacant Lot License.(b) Exceptions. No license is required for the following:
(i) Vacant lots contiguous to and in common ownership with a vacant lot that has a current vacant lot license. This exception shall include building lots in common ownership within an approved subdivision, provided there is a current vacant lot license for the subdivision tract.
(ii) Vacant lots contiguous to or separated by a driveway from a building where there is common ownership of the lot and the building. This exception includes a contiguous lot owned and maintained by the abutting property owner as a side yard.(iii) A lot that is continuously maintained as a garden.

In Philadelphia, tree-of -heaven sparked the interest of amateur and professional horticulturists alike as a desirable and unique shade and ornamental tree for the gardens of larger home and farm landscapes

I have to admit it is a great shade tree and I can understand why people used it in cities where gardens were small and limited.

flower tree

tree garden

So why do I call it the gardening clock. If you get lazy at keeping your garden or yard cleaned and trimmed, this definitely reminds you of your gardening duties. You will start seeing little sprouts. I think this might be why people in Europe and America were so fascinated with the tree. They would see it in gardens in China that were well maintained. What they did not realize is that, it had to be done. So the tree became its own promoter because the gardens were so beautiful.

This tree does keep its owner on their toes, but it rewards with shade, filter light and a great wind block.

Gardening on Small Lots is a Great Idea.

Small lots provide many opportunities for families and local communities to enjoy nature and family time. Our family has been gardening our lots for many years. Every year we try new things. In our 15ft 9in x 20 ft corner lot we have set up: two 4ft x 8ft gardens, a number of garden pots and even a crab sandbox for the kids to play in. Next year we are going to try some vertical gardening. I’ll bet we save a few hundred dollars a year in veggie savings.

Square foot garden

garden and crab

garden and strawberries

This year we are trying Square Foot Gardening (if you are interested here is a link www.squarefootgardening.com). It is a neat way of organizing the plants and rotating selections during the season. We’ll put up more postings of pictures as the plants grow.

As a family, gardening is a great way for the parents and the children to bond. Everyone gets to participate in the planting and harvests of the veggies. I think the kids favorites are the strawberries and the tomatoes. They tend to eat more than they put into the bucket. The kids also love playing in the sandbox and create little worlds in the sand. The big dog loves her piece of dirty we set aside. I think she just loves being along side her family and guard her family.

Fresh Garden Tomatoes

Little gardens also give neighbors a chance to meet and share. We love sharing some of the pickings with neighbors. I know our neighbor around the corner likes the peppers we gave him. He even dropped of a surprise gift of a gardening book for us. So you know, he always gets his peppers every year. We also have a teenager in the neighborhood that loves to take pictures of the flowers my wife grows. She is always welcome to take pictures of the flowers.